Cause and Effect: Teaser
by Stopwatch-To-Oblivion
Summary: OS. I call it a teaser because it's part of fic I don't know if I'll ever post. Two people injured...two people left to wait for them to heal...and one person dead. T for trauma.


_Freaking gosh darn Writer's Block, it can go die! I can't write anything it all turns out like crap! Darn it all! That's why I'm writing this. Sort of. It's actually an excerpt from a fan fiction I was planning on doing that involved Stopwatch but I don't think I'll ever get around to it. _

_Well, thanks for dropping by and reading it anyway! To anyone who reads my 'Seventh Waltz' and 'Fabric of Unreality' stuff, please check my profile for updates!_

Cause and Effect

Car rides with the entire Fenton family were nightmares. At least Jack wasn't driving. But it was still a nightmare. Maddie was drumming her fingers on the steering wheel, waiting for the light to change, Jack was sitting in the passenger seat, singing loudly to a song playing on the radio, Jazz was in the seat behind her mother, trying to plug her ears with one hand and write in a notebook with the other, and Danny was slumped in the seat behind his father, scowling darkly. They were stuck at an intersection and, to the halfa, it seemed like the light had been red for the past five hours.

"Finally!" He heard his mother breathe and he sat up straight to see the red light had flicked to green, "I thought it was broken or something…!"

Danny couldn't agree more. He grinned and leaned forward a bit so he could look out the window. His grin vanished in a flash.

It wasn't like something in a movie or like what you read in books where time seems to slow down during a catastrophe. He didn't even have time to think. He'd seen a flash of reflected sunlight glinting off a car speeding right for them as they pulled into the middle of the intersection and then screams filled his ears. There was a screech of metal against metal, crunching of two steel frames collapsing on impact, and he felt as though someone was trying to squeeze his insides out.

A red film blotted out everything, every part of his body was on fire with pain, he couldn't comprehend what was happening, his brain wasn't working fast enough. He felt himself trying to move but couldn't tell if he was; he was numb with shock; something was pinning him back. He cried out, or at least he thought he did, and struggled. The noise in his ears made his head ache and spin and he fainted clean away.

* * *

Maddie and Jazz had made it out safely, being on the side of the car that had not been struck, only getting a few cuts and bruises. Danny and Jack had not been so lucky.

Jack was in critical condition. No one was allowed near him. The pandemonium that had accompanied their arrival was so confusing that Jazz had panicked and collapsed into tears so that her mother had to drag her into the waiting room. The haunted look on Mrs. Fenton's face was horrible, enough to scare any ghost away.

"Mrs. Fenton?" Maddie slowly looked up at the nurse in the dark blue scrubs, blinking sorrowfully at her, "Would you like to see your son?"

Jazz and Maddie followed the nurse to a secluded sort of room and Jazz thought she was going to break down again when she saw her little brother. His right arm was set in a heavy cast and both of his legs were too. An IV ran into left arm and there seemed to be several bandages wrapped tightly around his middle. But that wasn't the worst. By far, the most awful thing that made Jazz lose feeling in her insides was the horrible blue-purple mark around his neck, like someone had tried to strangle him, and the thick bandages covering his forehead and eyes, already stained with blotches of crimson. Jazz thought she was going to faint.

"He's breathing alright on his own," The nurse said in a low voice, "And he responded to our voices. He's sleeping right now and he needs it." She turned her head to look at him, "He's broken his right arm at the elbow, his side was sliced open by some shrapnel, both his legs were broken at the shins, and the bruise on his neck came from the seatbelt when it twisted around. Those should heal just fine."

"What…what…what about his…his…" Jazz pointed a shaking finger towards her brother, gesturing to her face, fighting the tears. Maddie seemed unable to speak at all.

"Well, we think the window exploded inwards when the cars hit each other," The nurse resolutely turned her gaze back to the mother and daughter before her, "The glass…I'm afraid it splintered into his eyes. He's probably going to be blind."

Maddie swayed on her feet and Jazz grasped her mother; they held one another tightly, supporting one another. As the nurse was about to walk away, Maddie managed to find her voice and speak a couple of words.

"The person…in the other car…who were they…are they okay?"

The nurse paused, looking like she didn't know whether she was allowed to reveal that information or not, and then sighed, edging closer to them.

"I suppose you should know, ma'am, your name was listed on the emergency numbers." The nurse frowned, troubled, and then continued, "It was Mayor Masters, Mrs. Fenton. He was driving the other car. I have no idea how he crashed so horribly but he…I'm afraid he didn't make it."

Jazz nearly collapsed under her mother as Maddie lost all ability to stand. She managed to get her into a chair just inside Danny's room. The beeping machines were like the tolling of Death's bells, Death knocking at the door. Maddie sobbed uncontrollably and all the psychology classes in the world weren't helping Jazz now.

"Jack's going to be h-h-heartbroken…!"

* * *

_Well, there's your teaser; if that's what you want to call it. I'm beginning to wonder if I have several of those muses people are always bringing up. Scary thought. _

_Anyway, this little bit is actually a part of the second chapter of this nameless-thing-that-will-probably-never-be-posted. Still, a little more angst than I intended in the thing, darn. Ah well, what can you do? Bottling it up is a big no-no. _

_Thanks once again for reading and don't forget to please review! Reviews banish the horridness of Writer's Block (if you want to know all about it read Lyre-19's 'Up Against the World', a Psychonauts ff)! Reviews also shut up my neighbor's annoying yappy Pomeranian! I hate that thing! It's __**never**__ quiet, I __**swear**__! _


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